Paneer Butter Masala
Paneer used to be a rarity in our household when we were kids, and were reserved for the non-auspicious special days. But I got plenty of it during my college days in Pilani in Rajasthan, that at a point I grew tired of paneer. But if paneer was made in to this curry , I would have had it everyday and still looked forward for it the next day ! Trust me, its that Yummy !
Paneer or Indian cottage cheese, is a good source of protein esply for kids since they dont have to worry about calories and just love it ! Paneer is prepared by getting milk to a good boil and then pouring lemon juice/ vinegar to it, letting it to settle and filtering out the curds from the whey. I'll detail this out in a separate post in future with pictures.
Paneer curries are almost a must in parties with Indian food. This version of Paneer butter masala recipe is my friend Shivani. She is a very good cook and all her North Indian dishes are near perfect. I made this curry for a party of almost 40 ppl - nearly 5 Quartz. It wasnt extremely hard and was a superhit. This version is free of nuts and also has no cream in it. Guilt Free ? Well - much better than the one with cream :) !! The correct proportion of all the ingredients and the right method will give us the desired nice creamy consistency and that golden color gravy and a whole lot of appetite !
Here is the recipe :
Difficulty Level : Medium
Ingredients :
1. Paneer or Indian Cottage Cheese - Cubed (approx. 10 oz. or 1 Cup cubed)
2. Onions - 1 Big
3. Tomatoes - 2 (Medium) or Tomato puree - 3/4 Cup.
4. Ginger garlic paste - 1 Tbsp. (or) Ginger - 1 small piece and Garlic - 3 cloves
5. Milk - 1 1/2 Cups.
6. Salt - to taste
7. Turmeric powder - a pinch
8. C
hilli powder - 1 Tbsp.
9. Coriander powder - 1 1/2 Tbsp.
10.Dried Fenugreek leaves - 1 1/2 Tbsp.
11. Butter - 2 Tbsp.
12. Oil - As required.
13. fennel seeds - 1 Tbsp.
Preparation :
Time Taken : 10 mts.
1. Cube the paneer into 1 inch cubes each.
2. Chop the onions and tomatoes roughly.
3. Make the milk luke warm.
Method :
Time Taken : 30 mts.
1. Heat a pan and add little oil, shallow fry the cubes of paneer, make sure all sides turn slightly golden brown.
2. Boil water in a pan and drop these cubes in to the hot water, this helps to make the paneer spongy.
3. In the same pan, add little oil, and add the Onions and the ginger and garlic or the ginger garlic paste.
4. Fry till the Onions turn translucent.
5. TRansfer the contents to a mixer/blender and grind it to a fine paste.
6. In a fresh pan, add the butter and the fennel seeds. Once it splutters add the Onion paste and let ot fry for
3-4 mts.
7. Microwave the tomatoes for 4-5 minutes covered. (This step is optional and expedites the cooking of tomatoes)
8. Grind the tomatoes in to a fine paste.
9. Add this paste to the pan and let it boil.
10. Add all the spices and salt.Add the fenugreek too.
11. At this point, add milk little by little, stirring continuously. This is very important since we dont want the milk
to curdle.
11. The color of the gravy will start turning in to a nice golden color and the consistency will get creamier.
12. Once all the milk is added, add the paneer, cover and let it cook on medium heat for 5-6 min.
Its all done. Serve it hot with parathas or basmathi rice. It sure will please your guests too.
Notes:
1. Cashew paste can be added to the gravy. Soak and grind the cashew in to paste and add it to the gravy.
2. Cream can be added along with milk, 2 Tbsp of cream would substitute 1/4 cup of milk roughly.
